Inland Lakes awards fuel bid

Thursday

Jul 31, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Kortny Hahn

Alpena Oil Company was awarded a one-year contract with Inland Lakes Schools for its diesel fuel needs at the board of education's regular meeting Monday. Board Vice President Brent Shank said he had asked in other meetings to see the tabulations from the bids the school receives on it requests for services. By getting these figures, the board members would have a chance to look at the data behind the recommendation, so it would know what it was voting on. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable awarding this, you know,” said Shank. “We have a recommendation here that isn’t supported by any other documents that shows us what backs up the recommendation.” Administrative Assistant Dee Prediger said the school sent out bids to the two local oil companies in Indian River, Alpena Oil Company and BP. Only one bid was returned as BP declined to bid. These two companies are usually the only two bids the school receives for fuel. “I still think we should have some kind of a bid pack presented to us so we could see a little more,” said Shank. Because the bid package was so thick with different scenarios and tabulations for how much the school would pay for how many gallons and other criteria, Prediger said she didn’t get the information to the board members. However, if they wanted to look at it, she would get the paperwork to them. “Something that kind of gives us some support what the recommendation is based on would be nice to see,” said Shank. Shank said the school board used to receive a matrix which showed bids received by the school for different services. This gives them information to compare the bids and feel more comfortable when awarding the contract. The bid solicitation packages sent out by the district had criteria for the oil companies, including being open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and being within the area around the school. When the company sent back the bid, it provided the school with the breakdown of how much per gallon is charged and any other fees there may be. Trustee Susan Hitts said she agrees with Shank, it would be nice to have some numbers in front of them to be able to compare the different companies before awarding bids. The board voted to approve the awarding of the bid for the use of diesel fuel to Alpena Oil Company. Shank voted against the awarding of the bid. Also at the meeting, school board president Zach Skiera encouraged everyone to get out and vote at the August 5 election.